Suffering for your art?

[Jesterscup]

so today, I'm hurting.... not "serious injury" hurt, but I'm sore all over, and you'd be surprised at the cuts, scratches & bruises I have.

This is me suffering for my art, from shoes that don't fit, to the corset that cuts into my hips, fishnet stockings ( which provide their very own unique challenge for men....), duct tape for 'other' body forming, cuts & scrapes from shaving ( everywhere of course) and to top it off the eyes that burn from eyeliner ( and trying to take it off...). Indeed, before I even start to get dressed I'm usually injured in the crafting/making process, though I'm careful and luckily have never seriously injured myself while crafting.

Don't get me wrong, I know what I'm getting into, I know it's going to hurt, but its the price that needs to be paid. But I'm curious, do you suffer for your art? and how so?

This may be as simple as "nintendo thumb" to complete a game for your friends, or as elaborate as being a sword swallower ( still makes me freak every.single.time ).... and not just art, feel free to include your crafts or hobbies or other enjoyments...

---EDIT---
I just kinda assume that everyone knows this, if you do you're probably sick of me saying so, but context is everything. I'm a Drag-Queen and a performance artist ( basically a fancy way of saying I like to cause a scene in public), I've a pic on my profile...

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

This isn't so much "art" but one of my hobbies is buying and modifying knives. I'll buy a knife and then make a handle for it, or add jimping to the spine, reprofile the blade, and things like that. Sometimes they're small alterations, sometimes they're big projects, but I've gotten minor injuries almost every time I've ever done one. Either I'll cut myself or I'll spend so much time sanding something that I get blisters (or worse), or I'll accidentally bruise my hand with a tool. I should probably wear gloves a lot more often than I do, but I do so much detailed work and I need the maximum amount of dexterity in my hands to do it. Every time I cut myself or get a new blister I tend to rationalize it by thinking "this is just making my hands look manlier."

 

[carnex]

Not really art, rather a hobby. Errr, let see

Severe pains all over the body (inflammations, bruises, strains etc)
Various levels of intoxication (agricultural supplements and protectors)
Dislocations and bone breaks (upper arm, hip)
Cuts of various level of severity

So, I'm rather fat and somewhat clumsy guy who is into straining his body to extremes (and remaining fat by eating a ton) in various sports and activities and recently I came to be in sole charge of some 55 acres of land covered in orchard, vineyards and I'm trying to cultivate vegetable garden too (did I mention I'm new to this?).

Just just recently I managed to cut my lest thumb straight down to the bone in the garden and severely strain my back and shoulders on a 20km hike lugging some 20kg of produce that evening. And I love that shit.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

The only way I've suffered for my art so far was when I took a month off eating fresh food, reverting to spaghetti and toast in order to pay for camera lenses...

Oh and I stopped sleeping to play Pokemon but I think that's unrelated.

 

[Link_to_Future]

Art.

So, it's a strange word for me. Especially now. I was the all star actor back in my high school and I poured the entirety of myself into that pursuit. It was amazing and it felt great.

And then I left it behind for realism.

In the last year, I picked up acting again as a hobby. But if you want to talk suffering for an art, I have not suffered for anything more than I did for there plays. I quite actually only have three hours per day of free time before I start to impact my ability to function professionally (Thanks Job!!!!). So when play practice starts two hours into this free time and no one seems to get how that's negative, there's a problem.

Compound that with the fact that my acting requires a lot of energy on my end and people seem to want three performances per day. I mean, that wouldn't be an unreasonable amount of commitment if I saw a single time for any of my effort. But as it stands, it's entirely volunteer work. Nothing comes back to me so all of my effort is wasted beyond personal satisfaction.

But the satisfaction is gone now for reasons.

So literal pain? To a limited extent. But to an extent that pertains to my current lifestyle? The pain is too much for my art. :/

 

[Jesterscup]

So literal pain? To a limited extent. But to an extent that pertains to my current lifestyle? The pain is too much for my art. :/

It's not art unless it hurts Darling!

Ok I'm kidding ( kinda), I understand how much time and effort, how much of yourself get poured into something. It can so easily be all consuming. I've made myself sick from pushing to be ready for a performance. it can easily spoil the safisfaction from the performance, especially if those around you aren't supportive.

And there is a certain truth to the concept of the penniless artist. Even when I get paid for what I do (which is so very rare!), I'm usually still out of pocket ( to the tune of hundreds of pounds often, Edinburgh festival and I run the risk of it being thousands ).

severely strain my back and shoulders on a 20km hike lugging some 20kg of produce that evening. And I love that shit.

Hehe... I have a pair of wings that weighs over 15kg, and I wear them for upwards of 6hrs at a time... and the straps are too thin... worth it though...

 

[The Eupho Guy_v1legacy]

I've nearly passed out a couple times due to hyperventilating during rehearsal. Turns out playing sustained long low notes at fortissimo (very loud) for extended periods of time really does a number on your lungs. Apart from that, I've had numerous cuts and scrapes from the case of my old instrument, which had a broken combination lock on it. The tongue of the lock broke off one day and I never got around to removing the rest of the lock. As a side note, accidentally spilling valve oil on a fresh cut really stings. I play one of these [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Euphonium_Boosey_and_hawkes.jpg] btw.

As far as work goes, I've lost count how many scratches I've picked up on my hands over the past few years. The odd thing is I never actually feel the scratch, its only when it draws blood that I notice its happened. Oil burns are a different matter, however. That's only happened twice though.

 

[DarkRawen]

Snip

Just gotta say, while I know that your profile avatar is a pony with a mask or something on, I always think it's a poodle when I see it >_>.

OT: I don't know, I used to play the trumpet, which makes your lips feel all horribly numb if you do it for too long during one session (for hours, obviously), and since I'm a newb with the sax, sometimes I do the mouth-piece all wrong and it hurts. Also, playing guitar always used to hurt my fingers because the first strings on my guitar were super-tight steel ones, which is not exactly recommended for beginners.

My hands sometimes hurt when I draw for too long (I don't draw that often, but when I first do I can draw for hours), and... I suppose that's it. I tend to keep my definition of art somewhat limited, and I can't think of anything that makes me feel physical pain that would fit within it.

 

[Jesterscup]

I do a lot of DIY (shut up, it's art!). I feel battered pretty much all the time, especially my hands. Also, dropped a big sheet of MDF on my big toe - had no idea it was so heavy.

it depends what you are DIY'ing, some shelves? nope, some shelves in the style of a denobulian water vessel, probably.. hacking a couple of beds apart , putting them on stilts and making a mezzanine, definitely ( I did that ^.^ ).

Oh an MDF? that stuff is evil, I think satan manufactures it from the cursed tears of satanic babies forced to listen to whitney Houston ....

Snip

Just gotta say, while I know that your profile avatar is a pony with a mask or something on, I always think it's a poodle when I see it >_>.

nope, thats my wife, she's the poodle, I'm the pony ^.^

 

[Jesterscup]

It isn't really DIY I suppose (though I also do a lot of that), mostly woodwork - I've made my own furniture (TV units, sideboards and tables, not keen on trying chairs) from scratch (I didn't grow or fell the tree or anything, just used wood from a timber yard).

I'd count that as craft or making, you'd probably be able to do chairs, just don't try ladders, they are a pita

Re: MDF. Think I ended up eating most of it.

That explains a LOT....

 

[Saetha]

I cut myself with a paperclip once.

Donate to my patreon today.


All silliness aside, I have suffered some minor burns before. I used to do theater tech and I still do a lot of art-related stuff, and it turns out the glue guns are fickle and mighty beasts. I've burned my fingers a lot using them, and either not realizing I'd put glue on something before touching or being an idiot and trying to wipe up wayward glue with my bare hands. The worst was when I was using a big glue gun for tech, trying to glue some cloth leaves onto a "tree" for my high-school's rendition of Midsummer Night's Dream. I somehow managed to get glue on the same spot on the same thumb three times while I was adjusting some of the leaves at the top of the tree. By the third time there was already a bit of swelling and I took off to run it under some water. Unfortunately tech class was in the middle of the day, so I had to keep going through the rest of my classes while this huge boil blossomed on the pad of my thumb - I guess I coulda gone to the school nurse but it didn't feel serious enough for that. Hurt like a ***** to use it for anything until the swelling went down a few days later, though. At least it wasn't on my dominant hand.

I crushed a toe moving stuff around for tech too, once. Didn't break it, but it bled a lot and swelled a little. Strangely, despite using a lot of box cutters and exacto knives for my art projects, I've never cut myself with one - though I have come very close (Pro-tip, put down exacto knife before moving to scratch that itch behind your ear) But those glue guns, man, I always end up with at least a mild burn when I use them.

Snipperoonie

Oooh, that too. Tech was fun, but God did it take up a lot of free time, especially during plays. Luckily I ran the lightboard, so I basically got to sit in a chair and push buttons. The rest of the time I could goof off. Built quite a Minecraft world on the days leading up to opening, when I had nothing to do while the actors got in costume.

Snipperoo

And this too! I've gotten blisters from writing or drawing too much in too short a time before.

 

[CaitSeith]

If suffering doesn't make my art any better (or improve my skills), then I try to avoid unnecessary suffering.

 

[Saulkar]

For me my body is a work of art and I have torn both of the tendons at the base of my biceps in my inner elbows, some muscles in my abs, and tendons in my left rotator cuff. Otherwise when drawing, painting, or 3d modeling I get nose bleeds when stressed out sooo, I guess that counts as suffering? Especially when I blend the blood in the drawing. XD

CAPTCHA: Sorry Dave - You did not need to know that.

 

[Vault101]

I got a new FABULOUS pair of skate shoes [spoiler/][img/]http://www.surfstitch.com/product_images/VN-0D3HY28BLK-VANS-1.JPG[/img][/spoiler] that blistered something terrible but taking them off would be out of the question

I have also recently taken up skateboarding, and while wearing a helmet might make me look like a mushroom kingdom reject I must suffer the embarrassment as the embarrassment of having to explain serious injuries due to skateboarding would be far faaaar worse

 

[Private Custard]

I photograph airshows (and aviation in general). Sometimes, the best place to be isn't inside the show. A favourite spot of mine has been clamped down on, as it's in a field, directly underneath the display line. To get to that spot earlier this year, I left the house at 5.30am, arrived at 7am, sneaked in, and sat in the rain for the seven hours before the flying actually started, with nothing to do but get freezing cold and wet, and avoid the police. I wasn't well the next day, but it was worth it!

Spoiler

Also this summer, the Canadians flew the only other airworthy Lancaster over to the UK, for a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them both in the air together. Their arrival was a total clusterfuck, starting with not bothering to sleep the night before, being stuck in the open during a torrential downpour (with lightning), and being awake for around 60 hours in total. I was utterly fucked!

I seem to have spent most of the year being out from sunrise to sunset, and walking miles and miles in the process. My knees are ruined, as are my wrists and elbows from wielding such heavy kit........but it's worth it for those rare moments it all comes together!

Spoiler